Greek (GREK)

GREK 015 Elementary Modern Greek I

This course is designed for students with no prior knowledge of the modern Greek Language. Instructions are theme based and is supported by a Textbook as well as other written or audiovisual material. It provides the framework for development of all communicative skills (reading, writing, comprehension and speaking) at a basic level. The course also introduces students to aspects of Modern Greek culture that are close to students' own horizon, while it exposes them to academic presentations of Greek history, arts, and current affairs. Quizzes, finals and short individual work with presentation are the testing tools. The completion of this unit does NOT satisfy the language requirement. Prerequisite: Offered through Penn Language Center.

For BA Students: Language Course

Taught by: Tsekoura

Course not offered every year

Activity: Lecture

1.0 Course Unit

GREK 016 Elementary Modern Greek II

Continuation of Elementary Modern Greek I, with increased emphasis on reading and writing. Prerequisite: Offered through Penn Language Center. This section is reserved for heritage learners or by permission of instructor.

This course is designed for students with an elementary knowledge of Demotic Modern Greek, and aims mainly at developing oral expression, reading and writing skills. Offered through Penn Language Center.

Intensive introduction to Classical Greek morphology and syntax. This course includes exercises in grammar, Greek composition, and translation from Greek to English. Emphasis is placed upon developing the ability to read Greek with facility.

For BA Students: Language Course

Taught by: Nishimura-Jensen

Course usually offered in fall term

Activity: Seminar

1.0 Course Unit

GREK 102 Elementary Classical Greek II

Students complete their study of the morphology and syntax of Classical Greek. We begin the semester with continuing exercises in grammar and translation, then gradually shift emphasis to reading unadapted Greek texts.

An introduction to the ancient Greek language for beginners, with explanation of basic grammatical concepts and intensive exercises in reading and writing. Ideal for undergraduates or graduate students from Penn or elsewhere with some background in learning other languages, or who need to learn Greek rapidly. The course covers the first year of college-level Greek, equivalent to GREK 101 + GREK 102 at more than twice the normal pace. For further information on Penn's Greek curriculum, visit the Classical Studies department website.

Course usually offered summer term only

Activity: Seminar

2.0 Course Units

GREK 115 Greek/Heritage Speakers I

This course is intended to help Heritage Speakers or student with prior knowledge of conversational modern Greek (or even Ancient Greek) to refresh or enrich their knowledge of modern Greek and who would not be a good fit for the elementary or intermediate classes. A theme based textbook and instructions along with a comprehensive overview of grammar as a whole is presented while original text, songs, video and other media are used in order to augment vocabulary and increase fluency in modern Greek. Students are expected to properly use the language, do theme-based research on the themes examined and provide written work on various subjects and make conversation in class. Presentations on researched topics account for final exam.

For BA Students: Language Course

Taught by: Tsekoura

One-term course offered either term

Activity: Lecture

1.0 Course Unit

GREK 116 Greek/Heritage Speakers II

It is the continuation of GREK 115 with completing Grammar (passive voice as well as unusual nouns and adjectives etc.,) and adding more challenging reading and writing material. The completion of this course satisfies the language requirement. ALL students completing the HSI GREK 115 are eligible toenroll. ALL OTHERS will have to take a placement test.

For BA Students: Last Language Course

Taught by: Tsekoura

Course usually offered in spring term

Activity: Lecture

1.0 Course Unit

GREK 181 Elementary Biblical Greek: The Language of Early Christianity

This course provides a one-semester introduction to koine, the version of ancient Greek that was shared by many communities around the Mediterranean and was used in the composition of the Greek New Testament and much early Christian literature. Coursework will focus on grammar, vocabulary, and basic readings. The course prepares students for more extensive readings in biblical Greek literature, in the sequel course GREK 182 Readings in Biblical Greek. Students aiming to learn classical Greek should take instead GREK 101 Elementary Classical Greek I. This course does not prepare students for reading classical (Attic) Greek. Students aiming to read classical Greek should take instead GREK 101.

Taught by: Ker

Activity: Seminar

1.0 Course Unit

GREK 203 Intermediate Classical Greek: Prose

This course is for those who have completed Ancient Greek 102, Greek 112 or equivalent. You are now ready to begin reading real Greek! We will read a selection of passages from Greek prose authors, focusing on language and style.

An introduction to the basic history and conventions of Greek prose and poetry, with continuous readings from classical authors accompanied by grammar review and exercises. Ideal for undergraduates or graduate students from Penn or elsewhere who have completed the equivalent of one year of Greek (e.g., GREK 112). The course covers the second year of college-level Greek, equivalent to GREK 203 + 204 at more than twice the normal pace. This is an online course. 2 c.u. Students are not required to be in Philadelphia. Course activities will involve a series of intensive online exercises completed each day according the students own schedule, plus one daily video-linked session 5.30-7.00pm EST (Monday thru Thursday). The instructor for summer 2020 is Maria Kovalchuk, a Ph.D. student in Classical Studies. For further information about the course, please contact Prof. James Ker (jker@sas.upenn.edu).

For BA Students: Last Language Course

Course usually offered summer term only

Activity: Seminar

2.0 Course Units

GREK 308 The Myth of Prometheus

In Greek mythology, human beings are indebted for their survival and their way of life to Prometheus, the powerful Titan and clever trickster who defies Zeus to give them the gift of fire and the various arts and technologies of civilization. We will trace the development of the Prometheus myth through a series of works in different genres by Hesiod, Aeschylus, and Plato.

Taught by: Murnaghan

Activity: Seminar

1.0 Course Unit

GREK 309 Hymnic Poetry

In this course, we will read the four major Homeric hymns and five Callimachean hymns, with briefer examinations of the minor Homeric hymns and Orphic hymns. Some of the questions that will arise from our readings include the contexts for which they were composed, the literary and religious relationship of humans and gods, mythopoetics, and the differences in dialect and language between the works.

In this class we will read excerpts from the Greek historian, Thucydides, whose account of the Peloponnesian War is one of the most influential and compelling examples of history writing from any culture. Thucydides is generally thought of as one of the more difficult Greek prose authors. We will read some basic narrative passages in order to become familiar with Thucydidean style, before moving to the more difficult speeches and editorial passages in which Thucydides expounds upon the goals and difficulties of writing history.

We will read in Greek two great Athenian tragedies focused on the workings of the god Apollo, and the shocking, gradual revelation of hidden family relationships: Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannos, and Euripides' Ion.

What do we need to read texts in ancient Greek? In this course we read just one prose text and one poetic text, or a very limited number of texts and passages, with a focus on language and formal analysis (such as diction, grammar, stylistics, metrics, rhetoric, textual criticism). A range of exercises will be used to develop these skills, including composition, lexical studies, recitation, memorization, exegesis, written close-readings, and sight-translation.

Course not offered every year

Activity: Seminar

1.0 Course Unit

GREK 541 Greek Literary History

Through selected readings from both poetry and prose, we will survey the range and evolution of ancient Greek literary practice.

Taught by: Rosen

Course not offered every year

Activity: Seminar

1.0 Course Unit

GREK 600 Aristophanes & Lucian

This seminar will explore the comic drama of Aristophanes and its influence on the comic prose of Lucian in the Imperial period. Aristophanes was an important literary model for Lucian, but Lucian read Aristophanes in his own way and for his own literary agenda. We will consider each author both in their own historical contexts, and comparatively, as parodists, satirists and cultural critics within a long and varied literary tradition.

Taught by: Rosen

One-term course offered either term

Activity: Seminar

1.0 Course Unit

GREK 601 Plato and Aristotle on Human Nature

The place of humans in the order of things was a perennial question for ancient philosophers. The puzzle typically begins with questions of humans' place within a hierarchy, setting them between inanimate things and non-human living things on the one side, and the divine on other. These categories, along with others like metabolism, growth and decay, death, sentience, cognition, and knowledge, will form the background against which we look closely at Plato's and Aristotle's views. We will read sections of Phaedo, Republic, and Timaeus, along with On the Soul, On the Motion of Animals, and On Divination During Sleep. The course will invite both broad synthetic thinking, and focused textual analysis. Students will be responsible for a class presentation, a stint as lead questioner, a presentation of work toward a research paper, and a final research paper.

An interdisciplinary seminar focusing on the city of Troy both as an archaeological site and as the setting of the legendary Trojan War. We will consider Homer's Iliad (with selected sections read in Greek) together with the topography and archaeology of the site of Troy in order to address a series of interrelated questions: What are the points of continuity and discontinuity between the stories told by the literary tradition and the material record? How do both types of evidence contribute to our understanding of political relations and cultural interactions between Greece and Anatolia in the Bronze Age? How do Hittite sources bear on our reconstruction of the events behind the Troy legend? How have the site and the poem contributed to each other's interpretation in the context of scholarly discovery and debate? We will give some attention to modern receptions of the Troy legend that deliberately combine material and textual elements, such as Cy Twombly's "Fifty Days at Iliam" and Alice Oswald's "Memorial: An Excavation of Homer's Iliad." The seminar will include a visit to the site of Troy during the Spring Break.

In this class we will read excerpts from the Greek historian, Thucydides, whose account of the Peloponnesian War is one of the most influential and compelling examples of history writing from any culture. Thucydides is generally thought of as one of the more difficult Greek prose authors. We will read some basic narrative passages in order to become familiar with Thucydidean style, before moving to the more difficult speeches and editorial passages in which Thucydides expounds upon the goals and difficulties of writing history.

We will read in Greek two great Athenian tragedies focused on the workings of the god Apollo, and the shocking, gradual revelation of hidden family relationships: Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannos, and Euripides' Ion.